Todd Heisler © News Being prepared for an emergency is important when embarking on any backcountry adventure. Gary Apostolou, of Denver, hikes to the top of Berthoud Pass with his dogs, Cody and Bucky,on Nov. 30, to do some skiing.

Stay put, think, observe and plan: Increase your chance to survive if lost in the wild

By Catherine Gray Beuten, Special to the News
December 29, 2004

It's a magnificent January day in Denver.

Foamy latté clouds bubble up in baby blue skies. It's 60-degree, long-sleeves, light-jacket, shorts and tennis shoes weather - a great day for a hike up Long's Peak.

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The climb is invigorating, you show up your buds (or maybe you didn't bring any) and decide to forge a new trail. But things change quickly up here and suddenly the temperature drops below 5 degrees and the high elevation, approaching storm and rugged terrain begin to weaken your resolve . . .

Oh, and there's one more thing: You're lost.

Visions of yourself - your flesh blue, eyes frozen wide open, body rigid and stiff - invade your mind. Fear replaces your blood with adrenaline and every inch of you wants to bolt.

But where? Where did you come from?

You can't tell. As the wind kicks the night below freezing and the snow starts to twirl and laugh in your face, Don Davis, instructor at Wilderness Institute of Survival Education, says there's something you must do: S-T-O-P. How bearable, frightful, miserable or even deadly the night turns out to be is entirely up to you.

"S," Davis said, is for "sit down, don't run off. You're dealing with all sorts of emotions including fear and panic."

Most people who realize they are lost and stay put are found within 1 mile of their previously known location, but often a person's first instinct is to keep moving, he said.

Davis recalled a lost camper who left the tent at night when nature called and went missing for 36 hours. Dangerous, you bet. Embarrassing? That, too.

"T" is for think.

"People have survived with virtually nothing but keeping their wits about them," Davis said, noting 80 percent of survivability is mental attitude, 10 percent is equipment and 10 percent is skill and knowledge: What you've read, taking courses and practicing.

"If you realize you're lost, be 'where you are' mentally," he said. "If you're in this situation, you need to forget about everything else, forget about school, work, everything. Your brain is the most important survival tool."

"O" - observe your surroundings. Consider the weather and what you will need to do to establish shelter, Davis said. Observe the condition of any others who might be with you. Are they panicking? Are they injured?

Establishing calm and providing any necessary first aid top the to-do list. Begin digging or constructing shelter and try to find an area where a signal can be observed by aircraft.

Look for assets in nature. For instance, if you are close to timberline, move up to set up a signal, then move back into the protection of the woods.

"P" is for plan. Yes, this is going back to before you got lost, but that is where survival in the wilderness begins.

"Letting someone know where you're at means someone is going to miss you," Davis said.

Give a precise location, leave a map with the planned route colored in. If you change your plans, leave the new route in your car at the trailhead.

If you are going out for more than a day, put your used socks in a sealable plastic bag along with the date in your car or tent so dogs can find you and rescuers can determine when you last touched base.

"Leaving clues is a lifesaver," said Davis, a member of the Larimer County Search and Rescue Team since 1981. "If nobody knows where you went, you're out of luck."

As you plan, it is important to realize that in winter, a fanny pack stuffed with supplies is not going to cut it.

"Most people don't take seriously enough the difference between summer and winter survival packs," Davis said. Summer is much smaller."

Dressing for the current temperature and any multitude of weather changes is a must. In the winter, start with the base layer such as long johns (not cotton), follow with the outer layer - fleece works well - and finish with the wind protection layer.

Don't forget the gloves, hats (not a baseball cap, Davis said; they don't protect from much of anything) and take an extra set of warm socks in case your feet get wet.

Davis said socks work well as extra gloves, too.

"Most people don't think of that," he said.

In search and rescue, Davis said the Larimer County team recommends the "no sweat" rule.

"If you sweat, you get wet. If you get wet, you get damp," he said.

Carry with you a shelter pack that is seasonal, geographical and personal.

"You can't really buy one premade off the shelf," he said. "You need to build one to meet your needs and not one based on someone else's idea of what should be in it."

Having a tarp or a large piece of thin, sturdy plastic - preferably a bright colored one that stands out - and 50 feet of utility cord is the first step in wilderness survival. A knife to cut the rope and a folding saw to cut branches to construct a shelter and cut firewood is advised.

A folding shovel to dig through snow is another tool that can simplify things and help save your life. If trapped in the snow, dig a trench wide and deep enough to rest in comfortably, cover it with the tarp to protect you from the outside elements and carry a water-resistant pad to sit on to protect from the wet and cold.

Always bring at least two liters of water, Davis said. Hypothermia, frostbite and exhaustion are exacerbated by dehydration and, in the winter, it is not always easy to tell whether your body is water-deprived.

"You need water, and you need a way to purify water, a means to heat water," Davis said.

Hauling around a 3-pound titanium, $35 pot is impractical.

"Every day you throw away something that works just as well," he said. "A tin can is all you need."

Ability to build a fire is critical and having more than one method of starting a fire is important. Davis recommends taking the wooden, strike-anywhere matches in a waterproof match case. You also should have other means, such as a magnesium bar that has a sparker on one end and magnesium on the other.

"You could also start a fire with two batteries and OOOO steel wool," he said, noting three volts is all you need. "It's a bit of a balancing act. It takes practice."

It is tough to find dry kindling in the winter, so it is a good idea to take your own. Davis recommended including a sealable plastic bag filled with 100 percent cotton balls.

"Slather them with Vaseline petroleum jelly and they act as a real good fire starter," he said.

Much of what you take on the trip can double as a signal for help. If the tarp is, say, blaze orange, your wind protection outer layer and the pack itself is a bright color, they draw attention against the snow and green ponderosa.

During the day, a fire can send up smoke.

"That always draws a lot of attention in Colorado," Davis said.

At night, that same fire puts off a lot of flame and a lot of light.

"When you build a survival kit, everything is multifunctional," Davis said. "Signaling is all about trying to appear bigger, drawing attention to yourself."

Two types of signaling are air-to- ground and ground-to-ground.

A ground-to-ground signaling device simply is a whistle. Air-to- ground devices include not only the smoke and flame but also a signal mirror. Make sure it is a military-style signal mirror that is made to be a signal mirror: two pieces of glass laminated together with a targeting device in the center and instructions on the back, he said.

"There are things out there that say they're a signal mirror, but they're not," Davis said.

Other musts for a survival kit:

• A map and compass, and the ability to use them, "otherwise they're useless," Davis said. GPS devices are fine, but "it doesn't replace a map or compass," he said. It is not as reliable and they need batteries.

• Food and whatever special dietary or medicinal needs you might have. "Our recommendation is you don't eat anything you have not brought with you," Davis said. "Most people really don't know how to identify wild green edibles." A thermos of warm liquid, be it coffee or soup, is the fastest way to regain body temperature, he said.

• Cell phone, but keep it off. "Cell phones are a great tool, but when you're in the back country, they're not for socializing," Davis said. "Charge it before you leave and turn it off, take an extra battery. It does you no good if the battery is dead."

Davis reiterated the best way to survive in the wilderness is to not get lost or trapped in the first place.

"If the weather is getting bad, it's better to turn around and go home than to make it to whatever your objective is," he said. "Whether it's a peak or a lake or whatever, it'll be there tomorrow, but if you make a bad decision, you might not be."

Larimer County Search and Rescue responds to about 75 calls a year concerning people who should have, but failed, to heed this advice. Some never have been found. A professional German skier, for example, still is somewhere on Longs Peak, missing since January 1983.

"Rudi Moder . . . " Davis said. "There's got to be some skis, clothing or remains up there somewhere. When time allows . . . we're still looking for Rudi."

Survival kit:

From fall through spring, mountain weather is unpredict- able and if lost in the backcountry, you easily could find yourself spending the night in a snowstorm. Here's what to take when venturing out.

Composite Shovel (only 23 oz., really)

• Two liters of water and a supply of calorie-dense food

• 10x10 Blue-Poly Tarp from S&O Corp. (8 oz.)

• Folding saw

• Waterproof matches, magnesium bar and cotton balls covered in petroleum jelly

• Knife

• Compass (and map)

• Emergency whistle

• Rope or utility cord

• Other essentials: An extra pair of socks; water- resistant padding; warm liquid, such as soup in a thermos; a tin can for heating water; signal mirror; cell phone

Check out WISE at www.WISESurvival .com or contact Davis at 970-669-9016.

Copyright 2004, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.